Frustrations of a leg spin bowler

For thirty-five years I have been bowling or coaching leg spin and it has been an enjoyable journey. Looking back, I was lucky because (without wanting to blow my own trumpet) I was very good at it. I went straight from school boy cricket into club cricket and then onto the Australian Cricket Academy in a very short amount of time. From that point on, I was playing A grade cricket and pretty much bowling as many overs as I wanted.

Since moving to the UK in 2002, I have coached and encouraged many very good leg spinners. Some of the youngsters I have coached were extremely talented, a lot better than I was at the same age, but for some reason the careers of these very good leg spinners have stalled or ended completely.